Thirteen Rules to Dancing With Death
by The Black Quill
Summary: 5 I easily resist the urge to laugh. I know the game he played. Know it inside and out. There is nothing different about it. The rules are the same. And I have played so many times, I fall into the rhythm without hesitation. NP


**_Thirteen Rule to Dancing With Death_**

**by The Black Quill**

I easily resisted the urge to laugh. I knew the game he played. Knew it inside and out. There was nothing different about it. The rules were the same. And I had played so many times, I fell into the rhythm without hesitation.

One : stay in the shadows. You're a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor.

He smirked at me. His taunts came steadily. He knew this game as well then. Only he didn't know that I knew. This was all too easy. It shouldn't be this easy.

Two : react. Pretending to be strong won't get you anywhere.

They don't expect my angry retort. They think I will take longer to break. He knows its coming. He grins, almost genuinely. He's beginning to understand. I've been here before. There is nothing he can throw at me I cannot handle. He will not best me.

Three : be ready to die.

No determination will help me. This is his trick. The blade is cool on my arm before it slices. I don't scream. I've hurt worse than this. He will not win just yet. I cannot help but wonder if these lines will ever leave me. I can tell already; these will scar me forever. He drags it across my back. I've never been cut there before. This is new. I scream. This time it hurts. I hope he does not paralyze me. I would never feel the joy of flying again. That would not be good.

Four : there will be pain. Don't rely on an end to torture. There is none.

He begins to talk again. I understand his words better now. The blade is like a translator. I know what he wants. I will not give it to him. There is nothing to gain form this. Except, perhaps, his own sadistic pleasure. Which means everything to him. Why else would one bother? He knows. Maybe this is why he stops. Or maybe… maybe he just wants to mess with me. He's succeeding. This isn't how things go.

Five : don't think too much. You'll only realize you've no hope. Without hope, how the hell are you supposed to get out?

I try to glance around me as he threatens me. But my mind wanders when I do not focus on him. On his words. I can see my friends. They are nearly as bloody as I am. They will escape. I can see their portkeys slowly getting closer to their fingers. Only two aren't moving. They will not leave. I hate them for that. But they are all I have. They aren't friends. They are family. My family will not give me the gift of their safety.

I cannot stop my mind. It remembers this morning, when we were having that water fight. I think that I was drier then. But the blood is caking already. Soon I will be warm. Or maybe he'll end it soon, before my family does something stupid. Then I won't have to worry about it.

Six : know they know your weakness. You're predictable. Accept it.

He's going to kill them. He doesn't say it. It's the one thing he doesn't say. I talk about it first. Telling him it won't help. There's a rattling gasp from the group on the floor. Suddenly only the two remain. His eyes flash. He should have known. But he forgot that part. The game is so predictable.

Seven : be ready for the ace.

So this was it. He figured it out. I am impressed, despite myself. I wouldn't have thought him capable of this. But then again, he lured me here, didn't he? But this was impressive. So much for spies.

Eight : don't lose your head when someone dies. That's what they want.

Had they fed us, I wouldn't be able to keep it down. I know I look like hell but the spy looks worse. He's laughing like he thinks it's funny. But I can see him watch me watching the man who hates me. He wants me to break with this. Like killing the person who betrayed him will somehow crack me into talking. I begin to laugh too. What a fool he is.

They all think I've lost it, even him. The old bat is on the floor, trying to breath as steadily as possible, what with being paralyzed and blind. He turns to me, thinking I will give him his answers. But as he realizes I know nothing, he realizes he left his three prisoners within touching distance. My best friends realize it a moment sooner and are grasping the dying man's ankles and portkeying out before anyone knows what's happening.

Nine : show your ace when they least expect it.

No one is sure what I've done. Not right away. Suddenly I'm not there. If demon cats could laugh, I'd be rolling on the ground again. He knows first, orders them to capture me. But I bite the first one foolish enough to try. My teeth, sharper than the average kitten's, are venomous when I will. The man will be dead within the hour.

I'm halfway to him before they realize I'm flying. Odd, I didn't realize it was possible in my small form. I turn large, throwing them for another loop. He is worried now. You can see it in his eyes. He doesn't know what I am trying to do. Good. His turn to play the game.

Ten : cut off the leader from the pack. He is not so virtuous as to fight fair.

He tries to curse me, but he forgets to use his second wand. I return to my human form instantly, drawing my wand as I go, shooting off a mild hex. He is stunned, growls as we are surrounded by light, cutting his Death Eaters off from us. He must fight me alone.

I mutter my spell. The cage will remain. I am confident as I lower my wand.

Eleven : pretend you have a plan. How they hell is anyone to know you don't?

I smile as he begins to taunt again. I am the only one who notices the waver in his voice. We know each other so well. We are the others greatest rival and yet, if it were not for so many obvious reasons, someone could mistake us for brothers.

Twelve : remember your guilt keeps you from being a monster.

I am numb instantly, sinking to my knees. His body has been reduced to ashes. I pick up a handful and let it strain through my fingers. He is dead. I killed him. I won! No more Voldemort

I killed him.

I cannot stop the bile rising in my throat. I wonder where it has come from; I could not hurl before. But there's no suppressing this. I turn slightly before I hurl. In only moments I am hacking up nothing but a few spurts of blood. I can't stop heaving.

I am sitting on my hands and knees, shaking still. My wand is a few feet away. I notice a split second before it happens. The barrier is flickering. It is down and his supporters are surrounding me. I scramble for my wand, barely closing my hand around it as on of them steps on my hand. I can see his icy eyes. I know him.

I suffer from no delusions, apparating immediately. Only I forget to check my power and he is pulled with me. We land in the middle of Diagon Alley. There are few people roaming around these days. But there are students shopping for school supplies. And there are hundred of wizards on the look out for Death Eaters.

Malfoy tries to kill me, but is far from successful. I grin cockily at him from my spot on the ground, still panting, still shaky. "You bitch," he hisses. I glare at him.

"Do not patronize me," I gasp out. I struggle to stand, hissing in pain from a long cut in my side.

"You son of a bitch! Filthy muggle loving half-blood!"

"Is it hard? To know that your leader is dead? But how relieved you must be. You are finally free of him. I wonder, Malfoy. I've always wanted to ask. Did you know that you kissed the robe hem of a half blood? A man who was made for his muggle father? Tom Marvalo Riddle. Will you really miss him? No, you're just pissed you don't get any fucking power."

"Do not speak of things you cannot comprehend. How does it feel to be a murderer? Will your friends still _love_ you? Do they know of your childhood? When you were too weak to resist that fat muggle? How you let them treat you like dirt? Let them lock you away in cupboard under the stairs?" I burn on the inside.

"You know what, I like being a murderer a whole lot better than Tom must like death." Aurors are taking Malfoy away. I have one last thing he must know. "And for the record, Malfoy, you do know that Draco was a spy, right? Oh, and he shagged Ginny, not to mention that he's dating Charlie behind your back. The entire Order threw him a party. Quite the festivities. I'm sure he'll send you a wedding invitation when he gets married. But I doubt they'll let you out of Azkaban for the occasion."

Thirteen : once you're safe, have a huge party with all your friends, get incredibly pissed, and shag your girlfriend senseless.


End file.
